Mario Golf Super Rush may look like your typical Mario Golf game, but underneath its friendly
and familiar exterior lies some of the most frantic action Mario Golf--or heck, perhaps
even golf itself--has ever seen.
With two major new modes, an in-depth single-player campaign, and freaking Pauline and King Bob-omb
joining the roster--there’s a lot to unpack.
But is it enough to justify the more than 15 year wait for the series return to consoles?
Let’s find out in our in-depth review of Mario Golf Super Rush.
And let’s kick things off...or swing things off...I’ve never been god with sports analogies...with
Speed Golf, which is arguably the biggest new addition.
Here, everyone tees off at the same time before racing after their ball to hit it again, all
in hopes of being the first to land it in the hole--but be careful, as each stroke adds
a 30 second penalty, encouraging, quick, but cautious play.
Though it can be difficult to keep that second part in mind when you see a legion of bob-omb
rushing their leader to the pin, which is just one of the many Special Dashes you’ll
see in the game.
A stamina meter governs how long you can dash for, with the Special Dash depleting it especially
quick--but it massively boosts your speed while letting you knock opponents out of the
way.
Every character is slightly different, both in speed and the exact movement pattern, but
they’re always delightful--Wario jetpacking around is a definite stand out.
It’s quite satisfying to bowl over your opponents while on your way to the ball--although
it would have been nice to have an option to look behind you to avoid becoming a victim
yourself.
The catch to the Special Dash is that you turn about as well as a freight train--and
you can’t cancel out of it either.
Which means you might find yourself barreling well past your ball if timing or aim is off,
forcing you to backtrack and losing precious seconds.
The general lack of control over it can be frustrating, especially when you factor in
the arbitrary jump during their special dash animation that can result in you hopping right
over your ball or course collectibles, like coins, which power up your special shot meterm
or hearts, which replenish stamina.
But it hits peak annoyance when activated by mistake, or without realizing my character
was facing the wrong direction, sending me careening seconds out of the way.
It certainly adds some risk to using the special dash, but the end result can often be frustrating
due to the limited controls.
Despite these quirks, Speed Golf is otherwise brilliant.
It will transform how you think about golf, encouraging snappy but smart decisions, mixed
with some quasi-platforming as you dash and jump your way across the fairway and around
enemies and other hazards to be first.
There’s never a dull moment during Speed Golf--which is pretty impressive for a sport
that’s normally all about taking turns.
It actually makes going back to the standard golf feel weirdly and slow by comparison--though
there’s absolutely still a place for that more measured, less stressful experience.
Speed Golf won’t be for everyone, but it is a truly novel addition that adds an exciting
new element to a time-tested sport.
And everything I’ve just said is also true for the 2nd major addition, being Battle Golf,
except with the intensity cranked to 11.
Here, you compete in a custom-built arena to be the first to land the ball in 3 of the
9 open holes--but since only one person can claim each hole, it quickly turns into a mad
dash for the ones that are left, with the last hole in particular usually amounting
to complete chaos.
Especially if you have Special Shots turned on, which allow character’s to launch devastating
shots that affect any nearby balls in its landing zone, such as giant explosions or
electrifying any nearby balls.
Togglable random events also add to the chaos, such as barrage of bob-ombs parachuting in,
or everyone being awarded super stars.
It all amounts to mode that’s super fresh and fun.
Unfortunately, the fact that there are only two courses--both within the same stadium
seating--definitely limits its replayability.
The flat blue color scheme is also visually off-putting, especially since it makes the
water hard to spot discern, which really sucks when you find yourself in it.
But on the whole, Battle Golf can be a complete blast, but one that’s perhaps enjoyed most
in short bursts.
Now if neither Speed Golf or Battle Golf is quite your cup of tea, don’t worry, standard
golf is back too, playing exactly as you’d expect it to.
The slower and more methodical play style can be a nice change of pace from the pressure
of always being under the gun in the other modes.
Heck, it even takes a page from Speed Golf’s book, now offering the option to let everyone
swing at once too.
No, it’s not a race or anything, it just drastically speeds up the game since you no
longer have to wait for players to finish their turn first--and this a truly fantastic
option, potentially reducing a game’s length to a quarter of what it would normally be
with 4 players--yeah, it’s huge.
The downside to that option, along with the entirety of Speed Golf and Battle Golf, is
that they’re all limited to just two players when playing on the same screen--although
you can play with 4 players locally if you have multiple Switches and copies of the game.
And this is an unfortunate encumbrance, as multiplayer is where Mario Golf truly shines,
so it’s a bummer that 4-player splitscreen isn’t supported.
Of course, standard golf works just fine with any amount of players when taking turns, even
allowing you all to share a single controller, which is nice.
Every mode also works online too, and pretty well too in my experience, allowing for up
to 4 players to compete at a time.
In my several hours of playtesting, most games ran mostly flawlessly, with only some occasional
stutters and lag popping up in a handful of matches--but as always, your experience may
vary.
And while the game supports both public and private lobbies, you have to create a new
room any time you want to switch modes, which is a little annoying.
Of course, what would a Mario Golf game be without exotic locations to play in...like
a Country club, a lake, a desert, or a forest.
Wait a second, this isn’t the Mushroom Kingdom I know and love!
Sure, they are populated by the occasional Mario enemy, but it never feels like you’re
*in* the Mushroom Kingdom, which was something I really enjoyed about the previous games.
Even the more generic courses in prior games had fun touches to make them stand out, whereas
the courses in Super Rush, though beautiful as they are, feel incredibly uninspired, and
I struggle to remember much about most of them outside of the occasional Mario enemy.
The only one that gets close to the classic feel is Bowser’s Castle.
While the graphics truly look great, with subtle details like trees that shift in the
breeze, it all perhaps skews a little too realistically for the Mushroom Kingdom setting.
Though to be fair, it does seem more exciting courses may be on the way in the form of free
DLC, but until then, I can only review what I’ve played.
Now it comes to the actual swing mechanics, Super Rush is similar to previous games--but
also has some key differences.
Aiming and powering up your shot is nearly identical, with a timed button press dictating
the power of your shot.
But you no longer have any direct control over its accuracy, which is now determined
entirely randomly within a pre-set range based on the terrain, the club you’re using, and
the power of your shot--the more powerful your swing, the risker it gets, as indicated
by the red zone.
On the one hand, I like that it adds a risk vs reward element to your shot based on the
immediate conditions--but on the other hand, it really sucks that you have literally no
control over it outside of the parameters, as it can really screw you over at times which
feels arbitrary when it’s through no direct fault of your own.
It reminds me a bit of tripping in Smash Bros. Brawl...
One change I do love though is how the terrain’s slope is now reflected in the Power Meter,
with it bending to show how your shot’s trajectory will be affected--genius.
And you can try to offset the curvature by curving your own shots by tilting the control
stick during your swing, which is more elegant than before.
As a long time Mario Golf fan, I found the overall interface to be a little subpar, especially
as it hides or obscures useful information.
Wind details that used to be displayed by an easy-to-read Boo, is now relegated to a
tiny, easily overlooked box in the corner.
Similarly, the game now only shows a series of vague arrows to indicate the pin’s relative
height difference, forcing you to use the annoying Range Finder in order to get the
exact height.
Super Rush also doesn’t show a full outline of the ball’s expected flight path in advance,
making it harder to predict what exactly might happen and which hazards might lie in the
way.
I should also mention that motion controlled swings are an option too when using a single
Joy-Con.
I tried it for a round, and I’m not sure whether it was my specific joy-con or what,
but I ran into detection issues despite being just about a few meters from the Switch, and
it made for a very frustrating experience that I won’t be trying again.
Now while multiplayer might be the star of the show, Super Rush also includes a robust
single-player campaign called Golf Adventure, complete with RPG-like leveling up mechanics.
Here, you play as a Mii as that progresses from a rookie to a master by playing golf
across a variety of tournaments spread among the different regions--although there are
a few curveballs mixed in that make the story a bit more interesting.
This entire mode harkens back Mario Golf’s portable roots, offering RPG-like level progression,
with you choosing which specific attributes to improve, and is a clear step above the
shallow Castle Club in Mario Golf: World Tour.
The mode makes a great first impression, offering impressively detailed HUBs to explore that
borders each of the courses, including shops to explore, and a plethora of characters to
chat with with dialogue that routinely refreshes--granted, most of it isn’t important, but hey, the
option is nice.
There’s just a certain feel to the whole thing that I can’t help but describe as
solid and chunky--which, trust me, is a great thing.
The HUB areas in particular look beautiful and feature some really cute touches here,
such as with Birdo being the camp mama.
I also like the characterization of the fellow n00bs that’ll join you for part of the adventure,
like how self-assured Toadette is.
The experience is surprisingly varied, with you being shuffled around the kingdom playing
in all kinds of tournaments, including different variants of speed golf and standard golf,
along with an exclusive way of playing called Cross Country, where the entire golf course
is your oyster, but you have to figure out how to nab a certain amount of holes within
a limited amount of shots.
It’s actually super neat and I wish the game explored the concept more--particularly
with how every hole takes place within the same geographical space as others on the course,
which feels like a wasted opportunity outside of the one or two times the Adventure Mode
takes advantage of it.
While the entire quest will only run you around 10 hours or--or possibly less if you don’t
talk to every character like I did--there isn’t a ton of depth to it.
The overall progression is as linear as it comes, with the only variables being the gear
you select and which skills you choose to power up.
There are no side quests or really anything optional to explore at all, outside of NPC
dialogue.
And though the story does have a few mild surprises in store, including things like
actual boss battles, it fails to offer a satisfying climax, ending just when it feels like things
are starting to heat up.
There’s also a serious lack of Mario characters here.
Outside of a few cameo appearances, it’s left to the typical Mario baddies to do the
heavy lifting--which is a bummer when you have a roster as strong as this--although
to be fair, I’d say that about any game that has Pauline or King Bob-omb in it.
The overall adventure doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression, but can still be
fun and is among the better single-player offerings in the series--which is a good since,
as it’s also the only single-player mode here, outside of playing one-off rounds of
golf against CPU opponents.
On the whole, I liked Mario Golf: Super Rush.
It may not quite be the hole in one I may have hoped for, but it still has some of the
freshest ideas the series has seen--I just wish the courses themselves had been as inventive,
and that the swing mechanics were as fun as in previous games
But no matter how you slice it, Mario Golf Super Rush is truly at its best when playing
with friends--at least if the screams of rage of having a ball blasted away from the hole
in Battle Golf is anything to go by.
And I’m hopefully the upcoming DLC will only make the game even more compelling, especially
if they add more unique course themes.
And there you have it, GameXplain’s review of Mario Golf: Super Rush.
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